Belmont rail trail gets healthy boost

Published: Friday, January 11, 2013 at 11:24 AM.

CaroMont Health logos will be cropping up along Belmont’s greenway project after the health care system agreed to contribute $100,000 in exchange for naming rights.

According to the agreement, CaroMont will pay $20,000 per year for five years, beginning this year. That money is slated to be used for funding specific projects on the rail trail that will run along the inactive P&N Rail Line. CaroMont gains exclusivity as the only hospital and hospital system to have naming rights on the greenway. That means light posts, benches, water fountains and mile markers could bear the CaroMont name and logo.

CaroMont has not determined what might display the health care system’s name, said CaroMont Health spokeswoman Dallas Paddon. CaroMont has been talking about collaborating with Belmont for its rail trail project for two years.

“We do our best to assist with projects that will improve the quality of life for our citizens,” Paddon said. “We support projects throughout the community. This is just one that we decided to partner with.”

Plans call for the 10-foot long greenway to run along the P&N Rail Line from downtown Belmont north to Belmont Abbey College and on to Woodlawn Avenue. The state said no to the city’s plan of putting asphalt over the existing rail lines last summer so most of the trail will run along the east side of the railroad tracks to create the 1.63-mile walking trail.

CaroMont Health logos will be cropping up along Belmont’s greenway project after the health care system agreed to contribute $100,000 in exchange for naming rights.

According to the agreement, CaroMont will pay $20,000 per year for five years, beginning this year. That money is slated to be used for funding specific projects on the rail trail that will run along the inactive P&N Rail Line. CaroMont gains exclusivity as the only hospital and hospital system to have naming rights on the greenway. That means light posts, benches, water fountains and mile markers could bear the CaroMont name and logo.

CaroMont has not determined what might display the health care system’s name, said CaroMont Health spokeswoman Dallas Paddon. CaroMont has been talking about collaborating with Belmont for its rail trail project for two years.

“We do our best to assist with projects that will improve the quality of life for our citizens,” Paddon said. “We support projects throughout the community. This is just one that we decided to partner with.”

Plans call for the 10-foot long greenway to run along the P&N Rail Line from downtown Belmont north to Belmont Abbey College and on to Woodlawn Avenue. The state said no to the city’s plan of putting asphalt over the existing rail lines last summer so most of the trail will run along the east side of the railroad tracks to create the 1.63-mile walking trail.

The N.C. Department of Transportation aims to start bidding construction of the greenway this spring so construction can begin over the summer.

The Belmont Rail Trail will become a part of the Carolina Thread Trail, which will connect 15 countiesthrough a trail network when it is completed. Gaston County has 11 trails and greenways that are a part of the Carolina Thread Trail.

You can reach reporter Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839 and follow @AmandaMemrick on Twitter.